I am fearful that more familiar names are going to show up on that list. I keep a close watch on the Camarero entries hoping for some of the missing ancient War Horses to show up, and it's not because I want to see them continue to race, but rather a relief to know that they are still alive. Several have resurfaced in the new year, but I am very concerned about a number of them that appear to be missing - in particular, a few older mares - 13yo Worthy of Wings who has 133 starts behind her, 12yo Princesa Dorada with 123 starts, and 12yo La Comeriena , with 138 starts. There are others, as well. I do understand that they need to race in order to generate much needed money, but something at Camarero is just not sitting well with me at the moment...

WarBiscuit

"One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent." H.L. Mencken

I am fearful that more familiar names are going to show up on that list. I keep a close watch on the Camarero entries hoping for some of the missing ancient War Horses to show up, and it's not because I want to see them continue to race, but rather a relief to know that they are still alive. Several have resurfaced in the new year, but I am very concerned about a number of them that appear to be missing - in particular, a few older mares - 13yo Worthy of Wings who has 133 starts behind her, 12yo Princesa Dorada with 123 starts, and 12yo La Comeriena , with 138 starts. There are others, as well. I do understand that they need to race in order to generate much needed money, but something at Camarero is just not sitting well with me at the moment...

WarBiscuit

That's how I feel too. I want to see them show up in the entries so I know they are still alive, but that's no guarantee they are out of danger.

Camarero has to make repairs to the barns. They make excuses that they are waiting for insurance money, but that is absurd. They started racing again before meeting the basic needs of the horses. Of course some of them can't perform well when they are standing in muck and not being cared for.

Shelley Blodgett @ShelleyBlodgett
2/2 there r lawsuits & counter-lawsuits being pursued; meanwhile, ~4 horses day r dying now! Horse welfare should be priority. They are backbone of Racing & make industry possible, but mostly b/c they are living, sentiment beings. 0 excuse many horses still in unsafe, often wet/mucky stalls

Merciful Goddess...that sounds like the owners there have just written those horses off as losses...and don't want to spend a dime to keep them alive, let alone bring them back to health.
'Let the old horses die, buy younger ones for racing' seems to be their business plan.

It's the same as people bringing in an old dog to a shelter and asking if there are any puppies. But realistically, these owners are probably operating on razor thin margins at the best of times. They need animals who can race now.

I ran marathons. I saw the Taj Mahal by Moonlight. I drove Highway 1 in a convertible. I petted Zenyatta.

Diver52 wrote:It's the same as people bringing in an old dog to a shelter and asking if there are any puppies. But realistically, these owners are probably operating on razor thin margins at the best of times. They need animals who can race now.

I'm not understanding why this is still happening- where is the industry support and rallying and fundraising for these horses like there is/ was for the SLR fire victims?? Is it because, for the most part, these are US racing industry cast offs that are beyond the usefulness for the connections that exiled them to PR in the first place? Sad, sad state of affairs that represent the ugly truth of the life of a cast off racehorse.

BaroqueAgain1 wrote:RacingPost has a lengthy homage to the horses we lost in 2017, including jumps and flat racehorses from all over the world, as well as broodmares and stallions. A complete list by month is at the end of the article.https://www.racingpost.com/news/in-dept ... ime/314275

I wonder what their criteria were, because, just at a quick glance, that doesn't sound anywhere near a "complete list".

firehorse wrote:Poor Unstoppable U. While they're are all sad, this one really frosts me:

Starts: 45
Firsts: 13
Seconds: 7
Thirds: 3
Earnings: $375,202

Ran in the Belmont, a stakes winner, then down the claiming ranks to Finger Lakes then Camarero. It's everything I hate about racing that keeps nudging me away from the track.

I am so with you. This is dispicable.

PR has been deteriorating for years....and not just TB racing. A few years ago I saw pictures of dead TB's laying on grass outside of barns. TB's that don't win in PR are dead. And this was maybe 5 years ago when racing in PR was "better".

US owners (not all) use PR as a dumping ground for TB's that are done in the US. The "illustrious" Steve Byk and his Dee Tree stables got rid of Toy Cannon, a DeeTee syndicate horse trained by C. Simon. Several weeks ago, I was reading about the Carribean TB group on twitter that had a few horses resting in some barn somewhere. One was Toy Cannon. I posted on facebook what I posted above re Toy Cannon. Thankfully Toy Cannon was shipped back to the US.

TB racing was dismal BEFORE the hurricane. Now, TB are just left to die whereever they are standing or laying down.
Any owner that ships a horse to PR in whatever "future" is left in PR racing would be more merciful if they just euth the horse. But mercy is not in this scenerio.

"I recently learned that Ricks Natural Star died last November 27. Winters had become very difficult for the old boy and, rather than have him suffer through another, his connections made the decision to let him go."